Sushi enthusiasts should prepare their palates. Britain's booming Japanese restaurant sector is to complete its menu by serving authentic Japanese wine for the first time. Japan has sent its first vintages to Britain in the hope of gaining a foothold in a market led by France, Australia and California.

Japanese wine has previously been banned by the European Union, mainly because of a lack of regulation among producers, but the country was recently granted permission to carry out its own verification.

The first wine to reach Britain this month is Shizen 2006, Cuvée Denis Dubourdieu, a dry, light-bodied white with 11 per cent alcohol made from Japan's indigenous Koshu grape. It will go on sale at Umu, a Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant in Mayfair, central London, and there are hopes for wider sales. 'Japan has a humid climate and in theory it should be perfect for making wine,' said Louise Holstein, operations controller at Marc Fine Wines, which owns Umu.

Ernest Singer, the American founder of Millésimes, the Japanese wine retailer, says the aim is to make Japan one of the top 10 wine exporters - it is currently 25th. The Shizen has already drawn critical acclaim. Robert Parker, a leading critic, said of the sell-out 2004 vintage: 'Perhaps the Japanese have finally found their great white hope.'